Confession: Throwing Away People's Homemade Treats

I usually throw out the stuff that I am worried about the enviroment it was cooked in lol other then that I just give the stuff away to someone else.

ndj1979 wrote: »

or, you could just leave them in the office break room ...

^^^This or take them home, put them in the freezer and enjoy them piece by piece. Home baking is so much work when it's done in volume.

Cool

AlisonH729 wrote: »

Foist upon you, like they're trying to sabotage you. Sure. I hope one of these people finds this out so they never bother to go to the trouble again.

I agree with this. Wouldn't it be nicer to just say "no thank you"? Or put them in the break room or give them to someone else. How wasteful. Also, how terribly rude. Imagine how horrible it would make the baker feel if they found out you were chucking their stuff? No one is knocking your goals (I haven't had one holiday goodie yet because I have goals too!) but just throwing homemade treats away isn't the best way to achieve them.

MsJulesRenee wrote: »

I give the treats to my boyfriend..you have no sibling, wife, other co worker, anyone that will enjoy them? Kind of wasteful to throw out perfectly good food.

I can see your point, but it's not likely that it's going to go to hungry people in need if the op doesn't throw it away. It's just going to go to someone else who doesn't need it.

AlisonH729 wrote: »

Foist upon you, like they're trying to sabotage you. Sure. I hope one of these people finds this out so they never bother to go to the trouble again.

Gifts aren't about what the person does with them after you give them. Isn't it about showing the person you were thinking about him/her and wanted to do something kind? Isn't the majority of the satisfaction in making the other person happy, not in knowing that they got a ton of use out of your gift?

jemhh wrote: »

I've had times in the past where it is easier on the giver's feelings to throw the food away than to turn it down. It's not like I took it from them and tossed it in the trash as I walked away. I'd take it home or to my office and toss it there.

Right now, I don't have coworkers who give out individual baked good packages. We might put stuff on the table for everybody to try but that's it.

I agree with this 100%. I say a sincere thank you for all the effort and thought that was put into the item. If the item is something I enjoy or that someone else I know enjoys, then it gets eaten. But if it's something that's not up my alley I dispose of it at home. The season about appreciating friends, loved ones, and coworkers around you, not about the food itself.

I have thrown away a few things that are too much temptation for me, but usually I am able to do fine with dividing those things up into small amounts and eating just a little at a time. I do often put them in the freezer also to make sure it is not just sitting around in sight.

I think it is best to figure out what works for you. Don't feel guilty regifting things, though. That works well for me with non food gifts.

They are yours to do what you want with. But there are a lot of people on the street who are cold & hungry. I'd do a drive by to a local homeless gathering point myself. But that's just me.

distinctlybeautiful wrote: »

AlisonH729 wrote: »

Foist upon you, like they're trying to sabotage you. Sure. I hope one of these people finds this out so they never bother to go to the trouble again.

Gifts aren't about what the person does with them after you give them. Isn't it about showing the person you were thinking about him/her and wanted to do something kind? Isn't the majority of the satisfaction in making the other person happy, not in knowing that they got a ton of use out of your gift?

Well sure, in most situations yes. But if you're gifted something you KNOW you won't use (whether you have something similar, it doesn't fit, whatever) there are usually polite ways to tell the gifter that. They did spend money/time on it after all.

In this case it would have been very easy to just say, "Oh boy those look really good, but I'm trying to watch what I eat and I know you probably worked hard on them, so please give them to someone who can truly enjoy them." (Or heck lie to me and say you have an allergy.) But don't take them to be gracious and then just toss them. That made my inner baker mad so I apologize @Lamkini. But now we know it was one piece of brittle, you could have declined, (you could have worked it into your day too if you had wanted) but it's not as bad as chucking an entire box of something.

OP great topic. Thanks for being honest! I wish I could throw the food away but it gets brought to work and is left nearby for all to see. I've eaten about 4000 caloriesoff candy this month that I wouldn't have bought.

I brought some pastry home for my son last week and ended up eating 4 at midnight. So, next time I bring food home it may hit the waste bin as well. I would love to say I can freeze it and eat a piece a week, but if that were the case, I wouldn't ever have needed to use MFP. Same with the break room candy. Some things I just need to avoid for now until it's easier to have "just one bite". They aren't trying to sabotage you, but the effect is the same.

Devol82 wrote: »

I usually throw out the stuff that I am worried about the enviroment it was cooked in lol other then that I just give the stuff away to someone else.

This * 10.

I learned that years ago. One co-worker had her cats all over the countertops in her kitchen and she had cat hair in the dish she brought in to work. Another co-worker never washed her hands when she did #1 or #2 and she was the organizer of all the luncheons. Since those 2 experiences I just eat what people buy in the store or restaurant.

quiksylver296 wrote: »

Send them to me! I make them fit in my daily calorie allotment, and enjoy the heck out of them!

I get the spirit of this but how do you make them fit if you don't know what's in them? You can guess, which might work fine for you and whatever your current goals are but it is conceivable that someone else might not be able to do that. This is especially true for those struggling to get results who ask for help and are slammed with "stop guessing, weigh everything, tighten up your logging" responses.

jemhh wrote: »

Ms_Chai wrote: »

OP, if it makes you feel any better. I have personally taken and tossed treats before from my workplace because it didn't fit in my calorie goal for the day.

I have also been the person who brought delicious treats to work and had no one take them because they didn't know what it was. It was persimmon pudding people.....persimmon pudding. WHO doesn't know what persimmon pudding is?!? Anyway, my point here is, that in that situation I would have preferred if they had politely taken a slice and tossed it themselves. Instead, it made me feel like I wasted my time altogether.

@Ms_Chai are you from Indiana? The only person I know who knows what persimmon pudding is, is from Indiana. (I've heard of it but never seen/eaten it.)

YES! I am from Indiana. That is too funny. I didn't realize it was a local treat.

ETA: So maybe what I thought was a normal dessert really was a freaky, strange one after-all.